1914 Cracker Jack Still Most Expensive Complete Baseball Card Set?
 

Would a complete 1914 Cracker Jack baseball card set, be the most expensive complete baseball card set? Or the T-206, or maybe 1952 Topps?

Oh, and if you guys forgot, this is Sean. :p

I could tell it was Sean by the question.

Im by no means an expert but I would think the T206 set would be the most expensive if you include the big 4 .

I would think the T210 set would also be way up there with the Stengel and Jackson cards.

With the Big 4, I would think it would be T206.

he's baaack.

Haha yeah, Missed me? I'm still interested in the most valuable baseball card sets! I am now a sophomore, and money is becoming more of an issue in my daily life. I remember a while ago though, that a near complete 1914 Cracker Jack set sold for like 800-900k? Around there, anybody else remember that?

Barry,

You have a good memory. Very impressive.

And I have a good memory for actually remembering this site! :D

What was I.. Ten? Eleven? Is Leon still the big guy at top for this website?

The #1 1914 Cracker Jack set on the PSA registry sold in November for $502,000 with a 6.59 GPA. A comparative T206 set would cost you way more than that.

I would think a Wagner(alone) would outsell a complete CJ set in similar condition.

Didn't the Pirate back set won by a board member a few years ago sell for $1million? That alone would exceed the CJ set, along with the sets mentioned above.
Sean, try and remove money as the main issue in your life, you'll enjoy everything a whole lot more.

no
 

No I am the little guy that is going to keep you in check and not let you go spastic. :)

What is exactly this pirate back set you are talking about? I am not familiar with this set, please give some more details. Yes I realize that, it's just.. I want so many things in life, and when I'm a little older, I don't want to be paying bill to bill and not having extra money for my own personal desires and wants.

Here is the thread on the T215 Pirates set (and includes the link to the Legendary auction) that went for nearly 1 million: Linky

Hands down, t206 set. Not even close.

He had 96 of the 97 cards in the set? Why wouldn't he just wait until he found the final and last 97th card? And why did he grade all the cards in SGC? Out of the big 4 in grading companies, SGC gets you the least amount of money. So imagine if the guy had the 97th card, and imagine if he had all of the cards graded by PSA. I think the complete set would have gone over 1 million then. Why is this set so valuable? I've never really heard it before. Is it just really scarce?

all great points, bet the seller is really kicking himself.

Hey, Sean...

In case you don't remember... you asked this exact same thing about 3.5 years ago. The "Search" function works pretty well.

Remember this?
http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=86479

I think Joann's response (#18) was probably the most appropriate for answering your question.

If there were a T206 set in the same condition as the CJ set that you so often ask about, you would see that it far outshines the CJs from a value standpoint. That one particular CJ set was exceptional due to the quality of each of the individual cards in that particular set... that is why it ended up commanding the big price. To say that CJ > T206 because of that is not a fair comparison.

Go ahead and try to collect the Pirate set. You will be able to buy what ever you want when your older because of all the money you saved not finding any cards to buy.

imagine
 

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world

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From a valuation perspective
 

surely an N172 Old Judge set would be the most expensive.

If T206 includes all the "variations" -- then an N172 set with all the variations would be so expensive, so incomprehensible, that a specific value would be quite difficult to ascertain.

If you include some sort of arbitrary grading designation [e.g. 6.57 GPA], assuming that it actually takes image clarity into account and does not include NM/MT miscut, faded cards, and you are suddenly talking million(s) of dollars.

An E107 set would make the 1914 Cracker Jack set look cheap... and would rival the overrated T206 set even with the Wagner IMO

T206 is the easiest of all sets of its size until you get to the last 4 cards.

Love the way you think, Frank and I agree with you.

How many pre-war sets are of the size of T206?

Your right there arent many sets as big as the T206 group.... T206 set is really a bunch of sets issued over multiple years collected as a group (individual brands and 150, 350, 460 sub etc). Thats the only reason its so big.

T210 group is bigger than T206 group, for one, and if you just considered 1 year of T206 (ie 150 subjects, 1909), then you have many sets that equal it in size or are bigger.

T209-2 (B&W) is a big set too.


Its actually funny that T206 could ever be thought of as in the same league with a set like E107. Every single card in E107 is 5X+ rarer than the T206 Wagner (not rare), including the E107 Honus Wagner... his rookie, along with other rookies like Mathewson, Plank, Bender, Waddell, Joss, Lajoie, etc. etc. etc.

PS. How many E107 sets are out there?? Ive heard of a couple that are/were close... but dont follow it closely.
Ive only owned 2 individual E107 cards in my life... :)

Old judge for sure with all poses and calif league cards.

A T206 set can be completed without any problems given enough funds, the same can't even be said for n172

I think you also have to look at popularity of a set when you look at price. Some sets are much more rare than T206, but they are not as popular, so prices may not be as high.....

T206, for whatever reason, is much more popular so, set prices may be larger than most other, rarer sets.

Unless I am mistaken, the answer is still zero. I am told that one person is one card away (perhaps a team variation). A couple others are close too... something like 6 away and a dozen or so away. I may be off on those numbers. Scott B. would probably be able to give the correct numbers of how many remain in the "most complete near-sets".

To comment on the scarcity of the E107 Wagner vs. the T206 Wagner, the graded pop of E107 Wagners was 4 at last check (SGC+PSA+GAI). Granted, there are some raw ones out there in a couple of the near sets, but I'd be really surprised if the total surviving exceeded 10. That's probably a pretty conservative number and is higher than what I think is actually out there. Estimates for the population T206 are commonly in the 60 range, but I've also heard numbers higher than that (even on the order of 1.5 times that). I don't have access to PSA pops, so I can't give an apples to apples graded pop comparison, but the scarcity difference is pretty stark.

T206 prices aren't high. I could get beater commons for 10-25 dollars. I can't say the same for the so called unpopular rare sets.

I think T206 was more of a monster before the internet js

Loved Matt's comment on the 1912 Pirate set! I'm with the E107 guys, which should come as no surprise, given my approach--rare and significant! If you think these are expensive now, give it 10-15 years. PSA's graded just 111 of the total 147 players, not counting variations, or an average of less than one of each card. The days of any prejudice due to being a black and white set as opposed to color are long gone--don't you wish you could have bought some in the early '90's? Just looked at one 1995 price guide which shows the Wagner at $3500 in NMt (lol). Maybe someday I'll own one of the keys, even in poor condition.

And it isn't everyday that John Lennon makes an appearance here--thanks Leon!

May we all have a chance to realize our collecting dreams!

Larry

Leon---I tried; I couldn't

Although it is impossible, I'd say a W600 set would be at or near the top.

Cheers,
Blair

Why would you say that? And what does a graded pop mean?

So, It seems like the two sets that you guys could agree on is the E107 and the 1912 Pirate set. Am I correct?

Old Judge doesn't really count, I think we can all agree that it would be the most valuable set, but no one even knows how many total cards are in the set.

I say that because the set is huge - with variations counted it is considerably larger than T206...but nobody is yet sure if all the cards and variations have even been identified yet. Some cards might well be one-of-a-kind (meaning that building a set is an impossible task). The W600 set is probably about 4X larger than E107.

A common T206 in rough shape can be had for $10. A common W600 in rough shape is more likely to cost hundreds. W600 Hall-of-Famers in nicer condition can sell for $10,000+. The value of a set would be astronomical.

Cheers,
Blair

I agree with Blair re the W600 set--extremely desireable and rare, and probably unattainable. I would put it neck and neck with the E107's, and maybe a nose or so ahead, considering the quality of the image reproduction. A complete set of either would have an infinitely high "WOW" factor.

Best to all,

Larry

bump! (: